History

Gulf Coast Intellectual Property Association

– Bringing intellectual property to life

– Making life richer

The GCIPA promotes the development and protection of intellectual property to encourage innovation, leading to enhanced business growth in the region.
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Brief History of the Gulf Coast Patent Association (soon to be known as the Gulf Coast Intellectual Property Association). Our group started in 2010.Here is an early e-mail about the group:

I have spoken with most of you about the possibility of forming a group of patent attorneys and others interested in IP, innovation, and the gulf coast region.

For anyone who doesn’t know, I am Kathy Chapman, a patent attorney with the Naval Research Laboratory, working at Stennis Space Center.

Mark Andrews and I have been discussing the possibility of forming a Gulf Coast Patent Bar and would like you to help us move to the next step, namely, setting out our mission and planning our first meeting.

To that end, a small informal gathering is planned for 5:30PM, September 23, 2010 in New Orleans. Mark Andrews has graciously agreed to figure out a good spot for us to meet (likely a cafe or pub in downtown?), and has also created a website for the group: gcpb.org.

We have set the date for the first meeting of the larger group for October 27, 2010, 2:30-5:30, here at Stennis. We have capability for remote access should that be desired by those who can’t make the trip. A possible theme for the meeting is the role of IP specialists in meeting the needs of the gulf coast region, although the meeting’s details are very much up to the smaller group meeting on 9/23 to decide.
With any luck, we can have a speaker address a timely topic, like the new KSR guidelines, and apply for CLE credit for part of the meeting.

Some reasons for forming this group are as follows:
1. Raise the awareness of the patent capabilities on the gulf coast, i.e. bring in business from pricier geographies
2. As a group, attract local training from, for example, the PTO, to the coast
3. Interface with prospective patent attorneys in engineering curricula in the local universities, perhaps set up internships
4. Work with entrepreneurs, work with community colleges, esp. with established programs in entrepreneurship, to cover IP rights issues in the classroom
5. Get to know each other so that we can refer locally based on subject area expertise
6. Enable the businesses that we work with to transfer technology among them, sponsor coast-wide tech days

If you think that others (anyone interested in IP in this region) would be interested in joining us on October 27, please feel free to forward this message. The meeting on 9/23, however, should be limited to a relatively small group.

The first meeting on 23 September 2010 attracted just a few souls (Kathy Chapman, Mark Andrews, Seth Nehrbass, and perhaps one other).

The 27 October 2010 meeting was well attended (around 30-40 attendees). Various potential names were considered, including Gulf Coast Innovation Association (shot down as the abbreviation included CIA), Gulf Coast Intellectual Property Association (shot down as many felt the general public would not know what intellectual property is), and others. Ultimately we settled on the Gulf Coast Patent Association.

Unfortunately, many mistakenly believe that the Gulf Coast Patent Association is only for patent attorneys, and thus do not consider joining or attending our meetings. We count among our members inventors, entrepreneurs, technology transfer officers, small business counselors, marketing consultants, angel investors, management consultants, small business owners, and law students, among many other professionals.

Ours is a sort of hybrid organization and we have had difficulty agreeing on a name, tag line, or mission statement, but we all agree that:
quarterly meetings of our members are useful;
networking has been helpful to many of our members and their clients;
we’re in favor of more intellectual property along the gulf coast, more innovation, more good jobs for persons working in technology, technology transfer, and new business ventures.

Our first name (in use from 2010 through 2013) was the Gulf Coast Patent Association.

Our first mission statement (in use from 2010 through 2013) was the following:
The mission of the Gulf Coast Patent Association (GCPA) is to foster the creation of an environment that promotes economic development through technological innovation. To achieve this objective, the GCPA hopes to enable intelligent match-making opportunities among businesses, technology providers, and IP practitioners along the Gulf Coast.

Recent tagline choices included:
Creating an environment where innovation can thrive
Greasing the skids of innovation on the Gulf Coast through networking and education
Bringing innovation and intellectual property to life
Bringing innovation and intellectual property together

Mission statements we recently considered:

The mission of the GCIA is to promote and protect intellectual property to support technological innovation and enhance economic prosperity in the region.

The mission of the GCIA is to foster an environment that promotes and protects intellectual property to enhance economic prosperity in the region.

The mission of the GCIA is to foster the creation of an environment that promotes economic development through technological innovation

The mission of the GCIA is to support economic development in the Gulf Coast region through the protection, promotion and support of technological innovation

The mission of the GCIA is to foster the creation of an environment that promotes intellectual property recognition and protection as a means for connecting technologies with positive business outcomes.

The mission of the GCPA is to foster the creation of an environment that promotes economic development through technological innovation.

To educate others about the services our members can provide and to help create opportunity on the Gulf Coast so our children can find jobs here.

The GCPA is a forum that educates and promotes its constituents how to best protect intellectual property and create wealth by connecting technologies with economic development success.

The GCPA is a forum that educates and promotes its constituents inventors and entrepreneurs how to best protect intellectual property and create wealth by connecting technologies with economic development success.

The GCPA is a forum that educates and promotes its constituents how to best protect intellectual property and create wealth by connecting technologies with business economic development success.

The mission of the GCPA is to foster the creation of an environment that promotes economic development through technological innovation.

The mission of the GCPA is to foster the creation of an environment that promotes economic development through technological innovation.

The mission of the GCIA is to support economic development in the Gulf Coast region through the protection, promotion and support of technological innovation

The mission of the GCPA is to foster the creation of an environment that promotes intellectual property recognition and protection as a means for connecting technologies with positive business outcomes.

Thanks to Kathy Chapman for starting this organization, and for all of her hard work to keep it going.

Thanks to Sergio Cabrera for creating the GCPA logo and the new GCIPA logo.